The Economics of Food: How Feeding and Fueling the Planet Affects Food Prices

Book Description

Over the past two years, food prices have
soared -- and plummeted. As crops are increasingly shifted to
biofuel production, will food prices soar again? Will people starve
as a result? What are the hidden relationships between the food on
your plate and the gas in your car? Will economic recovery lead
directly to massive price inflation in both food and energy? In
this book, one of the world's leading experts untangles the complex
global relationships between food, energy, and economics and helps
readers come to their own conclusions about the future of food. Pat
Westhoff reveals what really causes large swings in food prices and
what is likely to cause them to rise and fall in the future.
Westhoff discusses all the factors that drive changes in the cost
of food: not just biofuel production, but also weather, income
growth, exchange rates, energy prices, government policies, market
speculation, and more. Next, he walks through several of the most
likely scenarios for the future, offering insights that will be
indispensable to consumers, commodity speculators, and policymakers
alike.